'Strong, vibrant, outgoing woman': brother of Abbigail Cowbrough, helicopter crash victim, describes his sister

'She's a strong, vibrant and outgoing woman' Simon Pittarelli, the brother of Sub-Lieutenant Abbigail Cowbrough remembers his sisters as a tough and motivated woman.

TORONTO — The brother of Sub-lieutenant Abbigail Cowbrough, one of the victims of a military helicopter crash off the coast of Greece this week, is remembering his sister as a “strong, vibrant, outgoing woman.”

Simon Pittarelli told CTV News Channel Saturday that when he thinks of his sister he immediately thinks of how “tough, resilient, motivated, skilled and true — to her job, the military, her family and her friends,” she’d always been.

“I know that right now, all my family feel the same, and we’re kind of just remembering her as that,” he said.

Cowbrough, a 23-year-old marine systems engineer who hailed from Halifax, was one of six Canadian Armed Forces members on board the helicopter when it crashed during a NATO training exercise on Wednesday. The cause of the crash is not yet known.

“Right after the officers told us [about Abbigail’s death], all four of us — my Dad, my brothers and I — we all took it differently,” Pittarelli said.

He said he “went straight-faced immediately,” before his mind raced ahead to try and plan what the family would be faced with in the aftermath of the news.

“I was trying to distract myself with thinking forward and thinking [of] what would have to happen next,” he admitted, noting that coming to terms with his sister's death was "indescribable.”

Pittarelli said the military had provided the family with an assisting officer to act as a “liason” as they come to terms with the tragedy.

“He’s making sure that we’re all good to go at home emotionally … and in every way,” Pittarelli said, noting that his sister would have done the same.

“With everything that’s going on with the other families [of crash victims], I know for a fact that she would immediately think of them first... we all want to wish our condolences to those families as well, because we know what it’s feeling like right now.”

Cowbrough’s body has been recovered, while five other crew members are presumed dead. Canadian Forces say that remains have been found, but not identified.

The other crew members include pilot Capt. Brenden Ian MacDonald of New Glasgow, N.S.; pilot Capt. Kevin Hagen of Nanaimo, B.C.; air combat systems officer Capt. Maxime Miron-Morin, from Trois-Rivières, Que.; naval warfare officer Sub-Lt. Matthew Pyke of Truro, N.S.; and, airborne sensor operator Master Cpl. Matthew Cousins from Guelph, Ont.

With half of the victims from Nova Scotia, its a blow to a community already suffering. It’s been barely two weeks since a gunman on a rampage claimed the lives of 22 people in the province.

Last Friday, Cowbrough had posted a tribute to the victims of the Nova Scotia massacre by playing Amazing Grace on the bagpipes.

In her tribute, she was on board the HMCS Fredericton, the same frigate that searched the Mediterranean Sea for the missing helicopter.

Pittarelli said he wished his family could be with the other families of helicopter victims to get through it together, “but circumstances prevent that.”

He wants “anybody out there,” to know that his sister was “definitely a very strong woman.

“[She was a] great sister — daughter, granddaughter, cousin, niece — in every way possible,” he said.